Juve Open-Up Three-Point Gap at Top of Serie A
ROME, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Zinedine Zidane scored a superb goal as Juventus won 2-0 at Reggina on Sunday to open up a three-point lead at the top of Serie A. The Turin side, unbeaten in their last 14 league matches, have 39 points from 18 matches, three more than Lazio who were held to a 0-0 draw at Cagliari on Saturday.
AS Roma, 2-1 winners over Piacenza at the Olympic stadium on Saturday, remain third on 35 points, three ahead of Inter, AC Milan and Parma, who slipped to sixth place after a surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Perugia. Champions AC Milan had to come back from 2-0 down at the San Siro to force a 2-2 draw with Lecce, thanks to second-half goals from captain Paolo Maldini and Oliver Bierhoff. Inter also came from behind to beat Verona 2-1 with a second-half winner from substitute Roberto Baggio. First-half goals from Alessandro Calori and Renato Olive were enough to halt Parma's six-match unbeaten run. Argentine
Ariel Ortega claimed a late consolation goal for the home side. Bari beat Fiorentina 1-0 with an 84th minute winner, Udinese thrashed Venezia 5-2 and Torino won their first match since October at the Delle Alpi with a 2-1 victory over Bologna.
KOVACEVIC REPAYS MANAGER'S FAITH
After scoring 15 league and Cup goals as a replacement for Filippo Inzaghi, Juventus's Yugoslav striker Darko Kovacevic was finally given his first Serie A start at Reggio Calabria. The 27-year-old striker took 34 minutes to repay coach Carlo Ancelotti's faith, powerfully heading home Alessandro Del Piero's corner to put Juve into a deserved lead.
The home side, unbeaten in their previous four matches, threatened an equaliser straight after the break when Mohamed Kallon just missed Paolo Foglio's low shot across the face of goal. But a moment of genius from Zidane, back to his brilliant best after last season's indifferent form, settled the match. Receiving a pass from Gianluca Zambrotta in the 64th minute on the edge of the area, the French midfielder dribbled past three Reggina defenders before beating goalkeeper Massimo Taibi with a powerful shot into the roof of the net.
"The title race has a long way to go yet but we're pleased with what we've achieved so far," Ancelotti said of a side that has conceded just eight goals in 18 games and have not lost since September.
Lecce, the last team to defeat Juventus in Serie A, looked like breaking Milan's 16-match unbeaten record at the San Siro. Cristiano Lucarelli put the visitors ahead with a superb first-time shot in the 30th minute before adding a second in the 56th, punishing Bruno N'Gotty's mishit backpass. But captain Maldini rallied his side with a goal in the 61st before German international Bierhoff turned in Zvonimir Boban's 68th minute free kick from close-range for his ninth of the season. The home side could have claimed all three points but late shots from Massimo Ambrosini and Boban both struck a post.
Inter's first away win since November looked a long way off when Dane Martin Laursen put Verona in front in the 34th minute. But Uruguayan Alvaro Recoba levelled the scores straight after the break before setting up Baggio for his first goal of the season and the winner in the 74th with a pinpoint cross.
